Satanic Verses' family win reprieve

A FAMILY wanted in Iran for allegedly having a copy of The Satanic Verses has won a last-minute reprieve from being deported. Businesswoman Farah Ghaemi fled to Manchester with three children after authorities in her homeland claimed to have found Salman Rushdie's banned novel in her house.

A FAMILY wanted in Iran for allegedly having a copy of The Satanic Verses has won a last-minute reprieve from being deported.

Businesswoman Farah Ghaemi fled to Manchester with three children after authorities in her homeland claimed to have found Salman Rushdie's banned novel in her house.

The novel caused outrage among fundamentalist Muslim countries when it was published in 1988.

The religious ruler of Iran at the time, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, triggered an international storm when he called for Rushdie to be assassinated.

Although this threat was later withdrawn, harsh penalties remain for Iranians caught in possession of the banned text.

Mrs Ghaemi, who is a widow, had run a successful childcare business in the city of Shiraz.

Although the exact circumstances of her case remain unclear, police claim to have found Rushdie's novel, along with several photocopied pages. Mrs Ghaemi fled to Britain with her 21-year-old daughter and sons aged 17 and eight in June last year and settled in Gorton.

But immigration officials did not believe the family's story and their asylum appeal, where Mrs Ghaemi represented herself, was also rejected.

The Ghaemis were taken from their home on Wednesday and were due to be flown back to Teheran last week.

But friends, including teachers at a local school, contacted a specialist law firm which won a judicial review of the decision.

Solicitors say they have new evidence, including a copy of an arrest warrant against the family and the testimony of a policeman in the case which was not seen by the immigration panel.

Now a bail hearing this week may allow the family, currently being held in Yarlswood detention centre near London, to return to Manchester while a High Court judge reviews the evidence.

The warrant accuses Mrs Ghaemi and her daughter of `distributing lies through publishing and distribution of the misleading book, The Satanic Verses, and making propaganda against the sacred system of the Islamic Republic'.

Immigration officials are also studying the arrest warrant to assess whether it is genuine.